Do the Dead Know That They Are Dead?
Do the Dead Know That They Are Dead?
Not always. That is the long and short answer. Not everyone that dies immediately realize that they are dead. According to some research by mediums, there are cases when a person dies that they do not know (or comprehend) that they are dead.
This is especially true where the death was instantaneous (this is what I loosely term as a "quick death", may be the result of murder, car accident, industrial accident, suicide, etc). Oftentimes, the spirit may not be aware of their own death and see themselves laying on a gurney, family grieving all the while yelling at their families that they are not dead. Seeing their own body laying on a gurney, they may not realize that it is them. They may believe that the deceased person looks like them, but they reject the belief that the corpse is them. They may not be certain if they are awake or if they are sleeping.
The Death Process
During the death process, as one by one their ability to see, hear, smell or taste leaves them, any problems that they had with those senses returns fully when they cross over. We can draw some analogies from the study of the "Near Death Experience (NDE's)". The following is an example of such a report:
"It is amazing; for example, that a man blind from birth, upon leaving
his body, could see everything that was being done to his body by
the doctors and nurses. He later recounted everything he had seen
in great detail. Having returned into his body he was again rendered
blind."
Once a person realizes that they are deceased, they will turn to the thoughts of their loved ones and children. They will miss them and they will be able to "keep up" on their daily activities. They will no longer be able to directly interact with them on the same daily basis before their death. During some readings, one thing is abundantly clear: the dead still retain their memories of their surviving family. They still retain their love and concern for the continued well being of their family members. Just because they are no longer with them on an interaction basis, they still wish to protect, guide and respect their surviving family members.
During the death process, not everyone will see a "tunnel of light". Some may not. It is not fully understood why this is so, but it seems to be that way. Other cultures may have different experiences. Native American Woodland tribes believed that when they crossed, they entered into a forest where life was verdant. Abundant, teeming with life. This is not to be confused with the notion of the "Happy Hunting Ground", which is an invention by the white man.
Some NDE's survivors tell of seeing rolling hills, with lush green scenes, of animals with wonderful colors. With streams filled with all sorts of fish. Sounds that pulse with life. Colors that pulse at their specific gravity.
The newly deceased might undergo a type of "life examination process" with watching brief scenes of their lives being played before them. They may rejoice at some of the scenes, cringe at still others. They may cringe at the scenes dealing with pettiness, snobbery, etc. Now they know that there is so much more to life than just the "small stuff".
Time seems to stand still for the newly dead. Time is something that is not measured as we do in this dimension. Spirits have appeared wearing the clothing of their time period. There are stories that I have heard where spirits were unaware of time. In one story that I remember is about a soldier who is guarding this spot in some fort that had long since disappeared. The soldier was dressed as a soldier of 1812 and he was angry that there were people who were in his part of the fort that he was guarding. He saw those who were alive as ghosts. They saw the soldier as a ghost. The soldier was rather irritated when one of the observers tried to talk to the soldier and the soldier demanded to know what they were doing in his fort!
Another thing that often occurs at death is that the dead see themselves as they saw themselves while they were alive. I call this as "residual body (self) image. If a spirit has body dysmorphic aspects, the dead will see themselves as dysmorphic. For example, if they feared that they were overweight, the will see themselves as being overweight. The same is true with being too thin. Too anything.
During one reading early in my training I met a spirit that saw himself as being overweight. To me he appeared as very overweight. In life he had a slight paunch in the stomach region. He was not what we might consider as being overweight. In his body dysmorphic image, he saw himself as being overweight. During another reading of the same spirit the spirit appeared to be very thin. Why this is so, I am not certain. But he must have changed his own self body image over the short period of time between the readings.
Age is another aspect that goes along with death. Many of the spirits that I have met appeared to be the same age as the happiest years of their life. One story that I have heard is of a woman who had passed in the 90''s. She appeared to look like she was in her 40's or 50's. One spirit I have met looked as if she was in her mid 50's. When she died she was close to 80 years old. I assume that this most likely means that we will turn to the age that we were the most happiest when we pass over.
Religious thoughts seems to carry over past death. At arriving on the other side, some people report meeting religious figures, Jesus, Mary, etc. Some Christians see angels greeting them. Some atheists may see people dressed in long robes walking about. Some see nothing, but they seem to "sense" beings.
Language is telepathic, not spoken. Images are seen rather than described. Language becomes fascinating, as you think and try to find the exact word, you thoughts are transmitted telepathically to whom you are having the 'conversation" with.
Reasons for Hanging Around
They may have religious reasons for hanging around. They may not believe in the traditional religious values. They may reject the what they may have been taught in Sunday school when they were younger. They may not believe in a form of life after death. Or, there are some serious implications for this, they may not trust what they had been told in Sunday school. them, but they reject the notion that it Church since their personal experiences at death are different from what they had been told. All that they experienced was a darkness for a few brief seconds and then re-waking looking as if the world was now out of synch. Colors change. Colors become more muted. They no longer walk, they float. That alone can be rather unsettling! They have "lost their connection" with the world as they knew it. There were no brass bands. No fireworks. Just silence, then change.
There was no standing before the "Golden Gate" asking Saint Peter if they enter. They did not enter directly into "Heaven". Neither did they awake in Purgatory. Neither were they "absent from the body, present with the Lord".
When a person passes after a long, lingering illness, they may have had time to make peace with their family, say their good bye's, etc. Once a person passes they may "float around" for up to 3 days. Sort of like learning how to use their ability to float through solid objects, move from time zone to time zone by the mere use of thought. Travel continents by thought. Let alone exploring the entire galaxy of stars, supernova's, etc.
Deceased family members may come and help to prepare the dying to cross over. My wife is a nurse in a geriatric facility and when she hears these types of reports, she takes them seriously. This process in the overall dying process is called "transitioning". Transitioning is a nice name for preparing to die. Native Americans knew that their time for death was approaching when the Spirit would actually come to them telling them so. Then they would start to prepare for their death.
There is a very interesting story that goes like this:
Between 40 and 50 years ago, a young girl near a connection of mine,
was dying of consumption. She had lain for some days in a prostrate
condition, taking no notice of anything, when she opened her eyes,
and looking upwards, said slowly, 'Susan-and Jane and Ellen!' as if
recognizing the presence of her three sisters, who had previously
died of the same disease. Then, after a short pause, and Edward, too!'
she continued naming a brother then supposed to be alive in India,
as if surprised at seeing him in the company. She said no more, and
sank shortly afterwards. In course of the post letters came from India
announcing the death of Edward from an accident, a week or two
previous to the death of his sister. This was told to me by an elder
sister who nursed the dying girl, and was present at the bedside at
the time of the apparent vision." 1.
.
I am reminded of the time when my deceased uncle from the Netherlands suddenly one evening, walked into our front foyer and started to pace back forth looking for both my Mom and my Tante. Both had died some years before, but he may not have been aware of that when he decided to "pop in". I called to him and he got "spooked", so to say . He shot out of the front door. Three weeks later, I received a letter from family in Holland saying that their father had died three weeks earlier and 3 days.
There seems to be some possible correlation with Jesus being in the grave for three days before his resurrection. I am not exactly certain what the correlation is, but there appears to be a relationship.
1. Barrett, William, F, FRS, On The Threshold of the Unseen, (NY: Dutton), 1918, page 159ff.